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This amazing video sent back by the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows how a speeding comet slammed itself into the Sun. According to solar physicists, the ensuing blast that occurred on the other side of the star was not caused by the impact.
The collision took place over the weekend, when a sungrazer c... |
5 October 2011
05:39 GMT |
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Though it's not advisable to look at the Sun with the naked eye, astronomers say that the sunspot group currently moving across the star's surface can be seen without telescopes. Dubbed AR 1302, the object started developing last week.
According to experts at NASA, this is the largest and most active su... |
28 September 2011
07:50 GMT |
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Currently, our solar system appears to be traveling inside a localized bubble of sorts. Astronomers believe that the star and all its planets, including Earth, are changing their position in the Milky Way through a series of interconnected cavities in the interstellar medium (ISM).
This medium plays a very importa... |
26 September 2011
16:31 GMT |
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Oracle has recently let the whole world know that it has no interest in continuing with the development of Sun servers based on the x86 architecture as the company regards these as “commodity” items with low profit margins."I do not care if our commodity x86 business goes to zero. We do not make any mone... |
21 September 2011
09:32 GMT |
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Officials at the American space agency announce that five important companies have just been selected for a new round of NASA grants. This time, the money is being awarded for studies that would lead to plans and proposals concerning the creation of a spacecraft powered by solar electric propulsion.
The most impo... |
14 September 2011
05:23 GMT |
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Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) astrophysicists propose in a new study that dark matter trapped at the very core of the Sun is responsible for cooling down the star's inner furnace. This idea is bound to trigger heated debates in the international scientific community.
Dr Stephen West's team ... |
8 September 2011
10:58 GMT |
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As the Sun is approaching the peak of its current cycle, it is producing massive solar flares increasingly often. For the third time this year, an X-class event took place on the surface of the star. Just a few hours ahead, it was preceded by an M-class storm.
These instances of increased solar activity took plac... |
7 September 2011
04:42 GMT |
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Experts from the Lunar & Planetary Institute say that they may have discovered the remnants of long-destroyed world beneath the ices of Antarctica. The rocks they uncovered appear to have originated in a dwarf planet-sized object that no longer exists in the solar system.What this implies is that the space rock was d... |
6 September 2011
07:56 GMT |
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There is no denying the fact that Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity is a tremendous achievement. But while verifying it is easy, answering the riddles it poses is not. Now, a research team is proposing using the Sun to clear the remaining mysteries related to gravity once and for all. '
What... |
5 September 2011
18:01 GMT |
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A group of investigators at the Stanford University, in the United States, announces the development of a new early-warning method for detecting sunspots deep inside the Sun. The approach allows experts time to prepare for the potential effects of the ensuing solar storm.Sunspots are dangerous because they can give b... |
20 August 2011
06:00 GMT |
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Solar physicists at the American space agency say that their Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft were able to follow the path of a coronal mass ejection (CME), from origins all the way to the time when it reached our planet. In part, the creation of the dataset was enabled by the fact that inv... |
19 August 2011
03:18 GMT |
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Solar physicists say that the Sun released its most powerful solar flare in four years yesterday, August 9. The class-X6.9 event was so intense that it briefly knocked out HF communications, but the full effects of the event will most likely not be felt on Earth. The eruption itself was not aimed at our planet, which... |
10 August 2011
09:34 GMT |
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Solar physicists proposed the existence of powerful magnetic plasma waves called Alfvén waves many years ago, but thus far evidence to prove they actually form have been scarce at best. A new study now identifies the formations with a great deal of accuracy. The work represents the first time that the powerful... |
28 July 2011
04:51 GMT |
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Astronomers with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) announce the discovery of a pair of white dwarf stars locked in a binary system. The two objects are moving closer and closer to each other, and are expected to merge together in the future. White dwarfs are the remnants of Sun-like stars. They ar... |
14 July 2011
05:55 GMT |
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A tremendous thunderstorm that formed in the atmosphere of the gas giant Saturn is wider than our entire planet, the results of a new study show. The investigation also determined why the storm formed now, when experts were expecting it later on.
Called the Great White Spot, the massive storm has been imaged in e... |
7 July 2011
02:53 GMT |
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Researchers at the George Mason University (GMU) have produced the evidence the international astronomical community lacked for confirming the existence of magnetic ropes. These solar processes are believed to be the progenitors of solar storms. The investigation was conducted by GMU School of Physics, Astronomy and ... |
29 June 2011
07:40 GMT |
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According to the conclusions of two new scientific studies, it would appear that the material which makes up Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars did not originate in the protoplanetary disk around the Sun. When the star formed, not all of the gas clouds that collapsed to ignite it made it into the star. The leftover mater... |
24 June 2011
03:00 GMT |
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Astronomers are really curious about the fate in store for our solar system, and so many teams have taken many approaches to finding out what the future holds. Scientists at the University of Leicester say that studying white dwarfs is one of the best methods of knowing the Sun's future.White dwarfs can be found... |
23 June 2011
08:38 GMT |
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Contrary to some reports currently making the rounds in the media, a reduced level of solar activity will not produce global cooling. Researchers say that the number of sunspots on the star has little to do with the mean global temperatures here on Earth.Some began peddling this idea when solar physicists recently an... |
17 June 2011
09:25 GMT |
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In a recent paper, researchers show that several months of lag exist between the time when the Sun reaches the lowest level of activity in its 11-year cycle and the time when the star's magnetic effects start manifesting themselves on Earth.This delay can sometimes span more than 8 months, investigators wri... |
15 June 2011
06:00 GMT |
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Though the Sun should theoretically enter a period of increased activity called a solar maximum, experts say that the star may in fact be getting ready to become less active over the next few years. Peak solar maximum was supposed to be achieved between 2012 and 2013. The new conclusions are based on an thorough anal... |
15 June 2011
03:30 GMT |
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A pair of identical spacecraft launched back in 2006 was recently used to scan the skies in search for binary star systems. The observatories proved extremely efficient at this, identifying no less than 122 such paired stars, astronomers say. The researchers, based at the University of Central Lancashire, in the Unit... |
15 June 2011
03:04 GMT |
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On Tuesday, June 7, the Sun produced a large-scale solar flare, that observatories belonging to numerous space agencies were able to observe and analyze. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-2 microsatellite was one of these spacecraft. Our Sun is constantly being monitored by a number of dedicated telescopes... |
10 June 2011
08:08 GMT |
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A team of experts at the American space agency announce that one of their monitoring spacecraft was recently able to snap an interesting view of surf wave-like features developing in the solar atmosphere.The group explains that these features traversing the corona may hold clues as to how exactly energy is transferre... |
8 June 2011
05:26 GMT |
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Back when the solar system was still in its infancy, and the Sun was only a shadow of what it was to become, one of our gas giant planets played an important role in determining the ultimate appearance of the system, and potentially Earth's chances of supporting life. That planet was Jupiter.For billions of year... |
7 June 2011
08:11 GMT |
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In a new investigation, researchers were able to gain more insight into the processes and phenomena that eventually lead to the formation of dark spots on the Sun. These so-called sunspots were mysterious until not long ago, but now experts say they known more about them than ever. The research team that carried out ... |
3 June 2011
02:41 GMT |
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For the second time in about 10 days, solar physicists discovered that a new comet had met a fiery end in the flames of the Sun. The event happened shortly after a massive solar eruption that took place on the star between May 20-21.
Until less than two weeks ago, no instances of such an event had been detected. ... |
1 June 2011
01:46 GMT |
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Experts proposed back in 2010 that the faint young Sun paradox had finally been solved. However, studies conducted this year indicate the paradox to be pretty much in place. As such, an explanation for it is still needed and sought for. The paradox refers to the contradictions that develop between theories explaining... |
31 May 2011
11:03 GMT |
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An in-depth study of the activity going on on the surface of the Sun has revealed an interesting aspect of how powerful solar storms form. According to researchers, it would appear that giant bubbles of plasma, superheated at high temperatures, are responsible for fueling the events.Understanding the physics behind s... |
17 May 2011
10:08 GMT |
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This week, scientists with the American space agency saw a relatively large comet strike the Sun, after having spiraled ever closer to the star for a while now. At the same time, they also noticed a huge solar eruption, but the team that made the observations says that the two events are unrelated. The Sun is now w... |
14 May 2011
03:05 GMT |
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Ever since solar cells appeared, experts have always wondered about which method of harvesting the Sun's energy is the most efficient. Many say that photosynthesis – nature's way of doing things is the best – while others argue that photovoltaic cells are more efficient. In a study to be publish... |
13 May 2011
05:09 GMT |
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Astronomers were recently able to determine what caused the massive solar flare the rippled over the surface of the Sun on February 14. Determining the causes that led to this event is very important, since this was the most powerful flare of its type released over the past five years.
The main conclusion of the ... |
3 May 2011
01:52 GMT |
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Scientists with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) are currently developing a new instrument, that is dedicated to studying a critical phenomenon called magnetic reconnection. The device will fly to space with an upcoming NASA mission.For decades, experts have known that this process is responsible for under... |
30 April 2011
06:05 GMT |
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Google recently announced plans to hire at least 6,000 more people this year. Facebook is not getting close to the web giant in this department just yet, but it has some bold plans of its own, to grow to 9,400 employees at its current Menlo Park facilities by 2017. That's a huge increase over the current 1,400 F... |
27 April 2011
10:20 GMT |
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Physicists from the University of Michigan announce the discovery of a new magnetic effect caused by light. This is the first time this is observed, and experts say that the discovery overturns a 100-year-old theory that has been governing this field of research.According to the team behind the new work, the effect i... |
20 April 2011
04:48 GMT |
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Solar physicists say that the Sun is finally beginning to wake up at this point. After spending an extra 3 years than it was supposed to in a state of deep minimum, the star is only now beginning to exhibit important levels of activity.
According to the most recent observations, sunspots are now common occurrence... |
16 April 2011
03:53 GMT |
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Some time ago, the IBEX spacecraft surveying the heliosphere discovered what could best be described as a “ribbon” of energy and particles permeating this protective sheet. Now, experts with the mission finally get some insight into the nature of this ribbon.
The NASA Interstellar Boundary Explorer (I... |
2 April 2011
05:20 GMT |
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Analysis of the famous Antikythera Mechanism has revealed that its constructors had a very advanced understanding of celestial mechanics, on par with the knowledge of astronomers that lived hundreds of years later.
This device, which was recovered more than 110 years ago from a shipwreck near the Greek island of ... |
2 April 2011
04:03 GMT |
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Since 1992, when the first exoplanet discovery was confirmed, astronomers have identifies more than 530 such objects, with an additional 1,200 or so awaiting confirmation. Experts now believe the search should be focused on analyzing white dwarfs, which may be home to such objects. White dwarfs are dim stars that hav... |
31 March 2011
07:43 GMT |
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Scientists are currently keeping a close eye on a dangerous space rock, that has a small chance of slamming into our planet in 2029, and then again in 2036 and 2068. Recently, astronomers managed to take the first picture of the object in more than three years. According to calculations, the asteroid Apophis has a 1-... |
11 March 2011
04:27 GMT |
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Early Chinese and English astronomers may have been the first to observe sunspots, but the first scientific publication detailing them has just reached the age of 400 years. It was written by a German medical student named Johannes Fabricius. He began conducting studies of the Sun in March 1611, and observed the firs... |
10 March 2011
05:43 GMT |
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After observing hundreds of comets as a bonus to its primary mission, the twin STEREO telescopes have now also detected their first extrasolar planet. Experts at NASA are thrilled with the capabilities this mission displays nearly without interruption. The purpose of the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory is to ... |
9 March 2011
04:17 GMT |
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A series of researches conducted on meteorites provided experts with a new understanding of what our solar system looked and behaved like in its earliest days. The work revealed that dust grains which eventually allowed for the formation of planets tended to bounce around a lot. According to astronomers, the entire s... |
4 March 2011
03:34 GMT |
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The high level of activity on the Sun is causing an increase in the brightness and frequency of polar lights, as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere. The phenomenon is caused by solar winds slamming into our planet's atmosphere. Auroras are light shows of sorts that can be seen close to both poles. They are pr... |
3 March 2011
03:43 GMT |
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A group of scientists recently conducted a series of computer simulations on the Sun, which helped them determine why the last solar minimum had such low activity levels. The star produced far less sunspots than was expected of it during that time.
Our Sun operates in 11-year cycles, which have been documented fo... |
3 March 2011
02:40 GMT |
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A report citing former Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy reveals that Apple was set to be bought by Sun (the makers of the Java platform) back when Sun was up, and Apple was down.
The outcome would have spelled a huge loss for today’s consumers, suggests McNealy, who admitted that "If we had bought Apple, t... |
28 February 2011
08:30 GMT |
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Solar physicists at the American space agency report that one of their solar monitoring spacecraft has picked up what appears to be the largest, most significant solar flare of the current Sun cycle.Our star usually functions in 11-year cycles, during which periods of intense solar activity alternate with periods of ... |
15 February 2011
09:06 GMT |
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Our solar system may contain a massive celestial body we know close to nothing about, astronomers say. They explain that the presence of such an object would go a long way towards explaining the large number of comets being driven from the Oort Cloud towards the Sun.This space body may be a very large planet, a team ... |
15 February 2011
06:41 GMT |
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The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory has just turned 1 in Earth's orbit, officials from the American space agency are delighted to announce. The instrument has thus far sent back millions of images, and has helped increase our understanding of how the Sun operates. SDO launched from Space Launch Complex 41 at th... |
14 February 2011
03:19 GMT |
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Solar physicists in Japan announce the discovery of two huge holes in the surface of the Sun. They say that the structures are most likely gateways through which the star expels matter and gas from its interior into its surroundings.
According to the research team, the new image was snapped using the Hinode satel... |
12 February 2011
04:02 GMT |
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